We’ve had an interesting summer cruise in Kadash aka “Kim”, our 40' aluminium sailboat. As usual, there was work to be done when we arrived at the boat in Almerimar, Andalucia in early June. Almerimar is an unexpectedly pleasant resort, almost exclusively used by Spanish tourists, built round several basins in which yachts are moored.
The main task this year was Kim’s lifting keel, the last major system on the boat which I had not overhauled or fitted. The keel, which weighs about 3.5 tonnes moves vertically, driven by a hydraulic ram. Removing, overhauling and replacing the ram was quite challenging, but the overhauled ram worked extremely well, and it was a job well worth doing.
We fitted what we hoped were orca deterrent spikes to the rudder, a propeller rope cutter, and a high capacity emergency bilge pump. Eventually the work was finished, and we were joined by my brother Martin and his wife, Cathy, and we departed from Almerimar.
We marina hopped along the Andalucian coast, and at the end of July left Marina del Este for Ceuta, a Spanish enclave on the coast of Morocco, opposite Gibraltar at the eastern entrance of the Strait.
This was an unforgettable trip, quite unlike anything we had seen before in the Mediterranean. Atlantic water travelling through the Strait, sets up a circular current, the West Alboran Gyre.
The mix of Mediterranean and Atlantic water is very productive, and the bioluminescence at night was astonishing, as was the huge number of dolphins, hundreds if not thousands which accompanied us. The Gyre also brings fog, and as the area is very busy with ships, we experienced some slightly anxious moments with unseen merchantmen overtaking us, and in some cases stopping suddenly in our path. With the fog and the unexpected currents, it would have been a difficult passage in the days before GPS.
Ceuta is an interesting place, with a modern marina. It’s position and easily defensible geography makes it desirable, and it has been ruled by a variety of civilisations and cultures from the Phoenicians onwards. It was transferred from Portugal to Span in the seventeenth century, and boast fine defensive works.
After years in the almost tide free Mediterranean, we now had to take tidal streams into consideration. It is important to carry the tide through the Strait of Gibraltar as much as possible, and an easterly wind, a “Levanter” is also necessary. Both conditions coincided on 29th July, and we ran through the Strait close to the Morocco shore, with a spring tide and strong easterly wind behind us. It was a fast but rough passage, with a nasty moment when we had to luff up into the wind to avoid a car carrier making its approach to Tanjer Port.
This was our first experience of Kim in heavy weather, and we were pleased with the way the boat behaved, making good speed, but without any tendency to broach, the autopilot having no trouble in maintaining control.
Tanjer Bay Marina is a new development in Tangier. Commercial traffic has been moved to Tanjer Port some miles to the east, and the marina development is in the city itself, close to the main beach. Entry and exit formalities were more extensive and time consuming than we were used to, and included a search of the boat, but the police and customs officers were polite and friendly. In common with the other cities we visited in Morocco, Tangier has a rich and complex history, including a short spell under British rule. The King is involved in the Tanjer Bay development, a common theme in Morocco.
We had passed through the Strait of Gibraltar, but poor visibility meant we had not seen the Rock. We had seen no orcas either, their attacks on boat rudders seemingly less common on the Moroccan side of the Strait. Our defensive precautions, which involved a Kango hammer for striking Kim’s aluminium hull (it certainly scared the fish in Motril when we tried it), paper bags of builders sand which is said to confuse their sonar, and spikes glued onto the rudders, were not needed.
The next stage of the trip, on 31st July, would take us into the Atlantic. Anxious to have the tide under us as we rounded Cape Spartel, we arrived early at the customs pontoon, but departure formalities were rather protracted, and the tide had turned when we arrived at the Cape, the north west point of Africa, the tide race shown on the chart was almost non-existent, and we turned south in light winds, into the Atlantic.
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